Impact of Rods Configuration on Electrodes Impedance of Through-the-Earth Communication System

Abstract

Through-The-Earth (TTE) systems are usually applied in mining and cave rescues. In order to enlarge the communication range of TTE system with electrodes, the injection current intensity must be increased, and minimizing the impedance between electrodes is an efficient way to extend the transmission distance of the system. Aiming at decreasing the volume of electrodes resistance, several multi-rods electrode schemes are provided and implemented to test the impacts of rods amount, rod buried depth and arrangement on trans-impedance of electrodes. Experimental results illustrate that the electrodes resistance can be efficiently minimized by increasing the number of rods, and the electrodes impedance decreases with rod buried depth increase. Through unsuitable for underground implementation, rods configured in square or circle is slightly better than configured in line in reducing the electrodes resistance. However circle or square configuration is not suitable for underground. The experiments also demonstrate that the earth conductivity is an essential factor in TTE communications.